Tweet by Dr. John Cush

The number of U.S. patients prescribed long-term opioid therapy declined from 2015 to 2023, but co-prescribing of opioids with gabapentinoids increased, prescription data showed.In 2023, 4.2 million people had an active long-term opioid therapy episode, defined as a period of opioid dispensing…

Fibromyalgia (FM) affects 4–6% of the U.S. population, with nearly a 2 fold female predominance. Nociplastic pain underlies the pathophysiology of FM. CNS hypersensitization to both painful and non-painful stimuli occurs with little or no tissue pathology. Framing FM as a disorder of CNS processing is critical to diagnosis, treatment approaches and patient buy-in.

Recent research and publications have underscored the use, efficacy, safety and limitations to the use of cannabis for arthritis and pain patients.Chronic pain affects more than one in five American adults, yet practitioners are limited in treatment alternatives. Even if we exclude the use of…